A/N: Another fic that I wrote during my tutor time... It's my first NCIS fanfiction ( I love that show!), and I really support a McGee and Abby relationship. This, however, is just a friendship fic... Please Read and Review!

What Are Friends For?

Abby was staring intently at the glowing screen before her. In her hand she clutched a large Caf-Pow!, the only thing keeping her wake at this time at night. The NCIS building was almost completely deserted, besides herself and the odd agent desperately trying to finish their paperwork before morning, and in doing so avoid a severe telling off.

She sighed deeply as her computer beeped and yet another search came to nothing. Massaging her forehead with two fingers, she reviewed the evidence once again, determined to find something that she may have missed the first time around; something that could finally solve this case.

She'd rarely been obsessive over a case (unless it involved another member of the team), but even she had to admit that this one was getting to her. She'd only known the marine for a few days after meeting him at that nightclub, but seeing him on one of Ducky's slabs had inexplicably made her feel guilty, and now she was determined to find out who had put that bullet in his head. And why.

But no matter what she did, and no matter how many leads she followed, she always seemed to hit a brick wall. A very solid and extremely frustratingly placed brick wall.

She sighed again, closing her eyes and resting her head on the cool surface of her desk, going through what she already knew about the case in her head. There wasn't much. All that they knew was that Petty Officer Brookes' body had been found shortly after 3am by a civilian, with a bullet hole in his head but no actual bullet. After a search of the area and Ducky's findings in Autopsy, they had concluded that his body had been dumped there. And then they'd hit a dead end.

Abby couldn't say that she known Petty Officer Brookes for very long, or that she knew him very well, on that note, but he'd had such charm that she'd been instantly won over. Not to mention the fact that he was extremely good looking… Well, he had been. Now he was just a corpse in one of Ducky's storage units, cold and lifeless, and it was her job to find out the person (or persons) responsible, no matter how little evidence there was to go by.

Still resting her head on the cool surface, she didn't even realise she was drifting off until the welcoming darkness overcame her…

She awoke suddenly to the sound of humming machines, and someone gently shaking her shoulder. Blearily, she lifted up her weary head, tired and confused. She yawned, stretching, and swung lazily around her seat to see who had awoken her. A look of surprise flickered across her face.

"McGee! What are you doing here this late?" She asked, slightly confused. "Wow. You look how I feel," She commented, noticing the tiredness in his face.

"Ha ha, Abby," he grumbled dryly, a look of concern on his face, "you should get some rest. It's gonna be a long day tomorrow." She looked at him incredulously.

"What? Stop? But I can't, McGee. I mean, I've got tons of searches to do, and this evidence isn't going to sort itself…" She babbled, unaware of the frown on McGee's tired face.

"Look, Abby. Gibbs has told us to get some sleep, and you don't want to make him angry." She paused, before sighing deeply.

"What's the matter, Abs?" he enquired, worried at the expression on her face.

"Oh, it's nothing…"

"It doesn't look like nothing." He said pointedly.

"Well…"

"Yes?"

She stared at him for a short while, before saying, almost ashamedly,

"I don't know why, but… Well, I feel guilty. Does that make any sense?"

He looked at her; the sad frown on her face and the misery clouding her usually cheerful eyes, before replying matter of factly,

"Of course its makes sense, Abs. You cared for him, and now he's gone. But if you carry on like this," he said, gesturing to the many empty styrofoam cups littered on her floor and desk, "you'll be in no state to find who killed him and, if you really cared about him, you wouldn't want that to happen."

She stared at him; aware that that was probably the longest sentence he had ever spoken in her presence that wasn't directly related to a case. A small, sad, smile crept onto her face but, for some reason, tears began pricking at the corner of her eyes, and were soon flowing freely down her pale cheeks. Sobbing uncontrollably, she hunched her shoulders, trying to make herself appear as small as possible. Absorbed in her misery, she only vaguely noticed the arms wrapped tightly around her, and the soft voice murmuring comforting words into her ear, gently rocking her body back and forth. Overcome by tiredness, her world began to slow down, her mind feeling as though it was covered in cotton wool. Before she knew it, she had fallen deeply asleep.

McGee sat there silently, watching Abby sleep on the futon (he'd had to move her as she couldn't sleep in her chair, especially not upright). She looked so… Well, she looked so peaceful. So untroubled. He sighed heavily, before turning and looking at Abby's computer screen, which had multiple searches that were waiting to be started. Resigning himself for a long night, he couldn't help but wonder how staying behind to trace that one phone call had resulted in him pulling an all-nighter. Oh well, maybe Gibbs would show him sympathy…

Yeah right. Like that was ever gonna happen.

A/N: So, what do you think? Please review... The more reviews I get, the more motivated I am to write!